


Fanboy and Chum Chum in: Love Bugged!

by chrismouse



Category: Fanboy & Chum Chum (Cartoon)
Genre: Crushes, Gen, M/M, Valentine’s Day, more weird wizard diseases
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24172756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrismouse/pseuds/chrismouse
Summary: When Kyle doesn’t show up to school on Valentine’s Day, Fanboy and Chum Chum decide to deliver his cards personally- but they didn’t expect to get involved in a magical mishap involving a curse caused by Cupid himself! The three of them must try to figure out how to cure this “love bug”!
Relationships: Boog Shlizetti/Lenny Flynn-Boyle, Chum Chum and Kyle, Fanboy & Chum Chum, Fanboy & Kyle, Fanboy/Kyle
Comments: 13
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

When the bell rang at 3 pm, Fanboy and Chum Chum were usually the first kids out the door. Today was Valentine’s Day, though, and as with many class parties, Fanboy had to be reminded after class about appropriate juice pouch disposal.

After he’d finished getting the straws off the ceiling, Fanboy was free to go. Chum Chum, who was waiting in the hall, peeked inside as Mr. Mufflin left.

“Just a sec, Chumbito. I almost forgot my valentine box,” Fanboy called. He grabbed it off his desk, admiring the way he’d drawn his emblem on it. “Let’s go!”

“Hey, what about Kyle’s valentines?” Chum Chum asked, pointing at the box on Kyle’s desk decorated with sparkly broom stickers. “He spent so much time working on that box, but he wasn’t even here for the party!”

“You’re right! And what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t bring it to him in his hour of need?” Fanboy posed heroically.

“Should we bring him some of those leftover heart cookies, too?”

“Why not?”

• • •

By the time they got to Kyle’s house, Fanboy and Chum Chum had eaten the cookies.

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Fanboy said. “Hey, look! Kyle’s kraken!!”

The kraken perked up from its place in the moat, seeming interested in the company- or maybe it was just hungry. It grabbed them with a tentacle, looked them over, then tossed them aside, right to Kyle’s door.

“We should get one of those,” Fanboy said. Chum Chum nodded, then knocked on the door. There was no answer.

“Maybe he didn’t hear,” Fanboy said, knocking. Again, nobody responded.

“This boy needs his valentines, Chum Chum! Let’s make sure he gets them!”

“Right!”

“Kyle! Kyle!!” they shouted through the mail slot. 

“We have valentines!”

“And candy!”

“Go away!” came Kyle’s voice from the other side of the door. “I’m deathly ill!”

“You don’t sound sick,” Chum Chum pointed out.

“Come on, Kyle! Are you gonna let all these cards go to waste?”

There was a pause. “Oh, very well. But make it quick!” And with that, he opened the door and yanked the two of them inside.

Kyle was sitting on the living room floor, and was definitely not sick, but he had a panicked look in his eyes. “Nobody followed you, right?”

“You feeling okay, buddy?” Fanboy said.

Kyle took a deep breath. “Sorry. I just get rather paranoid around Valentine’s Day.”

“Why’s that?” Chum Chum asked, offering him a heart-shaped lollipop.

“Well, I suppose it makes sense that you two don’t know.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “On Valentine’s Day, all wizards have to beware of...  _ Cupid _ .”

“Cupid? Like, the little angel baby with the bow and arrow?” Fanboy asked through a mouthful of chocolate.

Kyle shivered. “He isn’t an angel baby, he’s a menace of a fairy. That bow and arrow are enough to make a grown wizard cry out for mercy! And worse, he’s at his strongest on Valentine’s Day.”

“So, he’s like the Tooth Fairy? Does he steal your heart instead of your teeth?” wondered Chum Chum.

“Nothing so gory as that. What he does is worse.” Kyle’s expression grew dark, as did the lights. “He sneaks up on unsuspecting wizards when they’re all alone, waiting for the perfect moment to strike... he draws back his bow... and his arrow flies, piercing his poor victim’s heart!”  


He looked to his friends, who, he was glad to see, were wide-eyed at the story.

“And that’s not all. The arrow is tipped with infectious disease- it puts butterflies in your stomach and stars in your eyes. You become a lovesick fool!”

Fanboy and Chum Chum held onto each other, clearly intimidated.

“And then what?” Chum Chum finally asked.

“I’m not sure,” Kyle admitted, “but it can’t be good. I’ve heard that many lovesick wizards have gotten into trouble from Cupid’s deeds...” He flopped onto the rug, facing the ceiling. “Oh, what am I to do? I don’t want that happening to me!”

“It’s gonna be okay, Kyle!” Fanboy said, scooting over to his side. “You know what’ll get your mind off Cupid? A nice Fa-rosty Fa-reezy Freeze!”

“You nincompoop! Do you really expect me to leave the safety of my home for that? After everything I just told you?”

Fanboy laughed. “Of course not! Me and Chum Chum’ll bring it to you! Now, are you more of a blue or pink kinda guy?”

Kyle blinked at him, then waved his hand. “I don’t have a preference. Whichever.”

“Valentine’s Surprise it is! C’mon, Chum Chum!!” Quick as a flash, the two of them were out the door. 

Kyle shook his head. The mail slot clanked suddenly, and he yelped, but it was only Fanboy’s hand poking through.

“Could you spot us a dollar, Kyle ol’ pal?”

Kyle grumbled as he handed it over, and with that his friends were gone.

• • •

Fanboy and Chum Chum stepped into the Frosty Mart with the grim determination of two kids on a mission. As usual for early February, the store was decorated with heart balloons, red-and-white candy displays, and very large stuffed animals. As usual for the rest of the year, Lenny Flynn-Boyle was behind the counter, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“Three Frosty Freezy Freezes,” he said as he rang them up. “Please tell me you aren’t going to try that stunt from last week again.”

“Oh, that trapeze act’s old news!” Fanboy waved his hand. “We’ve got plans with a friend this afternoon.”

Lenny groaned. “Great. Even you two have someone to spend Valentine’s Day with, and I’m going to be working. Not that I have anything better to do.”

“You mean a guy as great as you doesn’t have a girlfriend, Leonard?” Fanboy asked. Lenny scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Oh! Or a boyfriend?” Chum Chum guessed. He got the same response, punctuated with a sigh.

“It really doesn’t matter. Take it from me, you two. Love is something you want to avoid.”

Fanboy gasped. “Don’t say that, Lenny! Love is all around us! Like how I love Chum Chum!” He gave his friend a hug.

“Or how Boog loves Chimp Chomp!” Chum Chum chimed in. Lenny glared across the counter at Boog, who was microwaving a burrito.

“Or how you love Boog! In your junior-managery way...”

Lenny sputtered, turning red. “Y-you don’t- we’re roommates, that’s it! Boog, tell them!”

“No can do,” Boog said, obviously not having paid attention to the three of them at all. “I got a hot date with Chimp Chomp.” And with that, he pulled out a clip-on tie and went to go focus on the game for the rest of his shift. Lenny let out a rather frustrated sound.

“Why don’t you two go bother someone else?”

“Hey, that reminds me,” said Fanboy. “These Frosty Freezy Freezes aren’t gonna bring themselves to Kyle! Let’s go, Chum Chum!”

• • •

Meanwhile, Kyle had gotten bored waiting for his friends to come back and had decided to look through his valentine box. He hadn’t expected to get very many, but he realized as he sifted through them that everyone in the class had given him one.  


He smiled as he saw each one had a little personal touch. Yo’s had a Yamaguchi temporary tattoo taped to it, and Lupe’s looked like she’d used fancy patterned scissors to cut the border of hers. There was plenty of candy, as well. Kyle felt a pang of a feeling he couldn’t identify. Maybe it would have been fun to make his own cards and hand them out, he thought. But then he shook his head. It was safer this way, and nobody in class would miss a card from him when they already had plenty.

He accidentally brushed one of the cards to the ground. “Oh, fiddlesticks,” he said as he reached down to grab it. As he straightened up, he noticed the little tag that said “To Kyle, From Fanboy”.

As Kyle opened the card to read it, he didn’t notice the dark silhouette just outside his window, pulling back its arm, until...

_ Thwip! _

• • •

A few minutes later, Fanboy and Chum Chum arrived with Frosty Freezy Freezes in hand.

“Kyle! We’re back!”

There was only silence from the other side of the door.

“Kyle?” Fanboy opened the door, but then gasped and almost dropped his cup. Chum Chum peeked in curiously. His eyes grew huge and he yelped.

There, face down on the carpet, was Kyle- with an arrow sticking out of his back!

“Ohh...” Chum Chum nearly fainted, but Fanboy held him steady.

“Stay here, buddy. I’ll go help him.”

“Nnh... help me with what?”

The two of them stared at Kyle, who was sitting up, apparently not in any pain.

“Kyle!! You’re alive!”

“Of course I’m alive! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, you’ve got a giant arrow coming out of your back,” Chum Chum pointed out.

“You know, I think I heard a story about arrows at some point,” said Fanboy.

“I literally told you about Cupid half an hour ago,” said Kyle, who was having a hard time trying to pull the arrow out. “And now, despite my best efforts, he’s hit me with an arrow! I need to get it out before I’m infected!”  


As he said it, he managed to yank the arrow free, and he stared at it in surprise. The arrowhead was sparkly and shaped like a heart, and there were bright green feathers on the end.

“Wow, it didn’t even make a hole in your sweater,” said Fanboy, who had somehow appeared behind him. “Chum Chum, this boy needs a Frosty Freezy Freeze stat!”

Chum Chum handed one of the cups he was holding to Kyle. “We decided to get you blue and pink swirled together!”

Kyle took it, but kept his attention on the arrow in his hand. “I wonder what I should do with this,” he said in between sips.

“Let’s take it to Oz! He knows pretty much everything,” Fanboy suggested.

“Oz... you mean that man with the lisp and the ponytail?” Kyle looked skeptical. “Do you really think he’ll be versed in wizardly business?”

“Well, you could ask that pudding man who shows up around here sometimes,” Chum Chum said.

Kyle froze up at the thought of having to tell Professor Flan he’d been ambushed by Cupid. “On second thought, perhaps Oz is a good idea after all.”

“Great!” Fanboy said. “Do you think you could come with us and explain it to him?”

“I don’t suppose Cupid will attack me twice, so why not?”

“We’ll be your bodyguards just in case!” They each grabbed one of Kyle’s arms and marched him out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fanboy, Chum Chum, and Kyle go to see Oz to get some advice, and formulate a plan.

“Hey Kyle, are you feeling okay? Your cheeks are kinda pink,” Fanboy said as they stopped in front of Oz Comix.

“It must be the chill in the air,” Kyle said. “I feel just fine.”

They pushed the door open to see Oz locked in an intense action figure battle.

“Your days of swarming the city are over, Dr. Drone! Now prepare for a taste of-“ He noticed the boys standing there. “Oh, hey. How was the Valentine’s party?”

“Off the hook!” Chum Chum said, jumping up on the counter. “But we’ve got a problem, and we thought you could help.”

“Sure,” Oz said. “Does it have anything to do with that weird shiny arrow?”

“See, I told you Oz was smart!” Fanboy whispered to Kyle. Kyle rolled his eyes, but placed the arrow on the table.

Oz looked at it. “Well, from what I can tell from first glance... you seriously have some sweaty palms,” he told Kyle.

“Well,  _ excuse _ me,” Kyle said. “I was nervous that getting struck by this thing might have some horrible side effects.”

“Wait a second. Are you planning to use this on someone?”

“About that. You see...”

They explained the situation hurriedly. Oz nodded, then studied the arrow again.

“It doesn’t look all that special to me, other than the obvious,” he finally said, gesturing to the heart-shaped arrowhead. “I think we should focus on the target.”

They all looked at Kyle.

“Why me? I told you, I pulled it out!”

“We don’t know how long it takes for the arrow to work,” Oz replied. “Have you been feeling any different since you got hit?”

“No, I haven’t!” Kyle said indignantly. “Well, I mean... I suppose my stomach has been hurting a bit, but I’m pretty sure that’s just from stress.”

“Your face was kinda pink earlier, too,” Chum Chum added.

“Interesting,” said Oz. “Judging from what you’ve told me-“

Kyle interrupted him with a hiccup. A small butterfly flew out of his mouth and perched on his head. He slapped his hand over his mouth in surprise.

“Hm. Didn’t see that coming,” Oz commented, after an awkward few seconds of silence. “Anyway, considering your symptoms and what happened a few minutes ago, I’d say you have a crush.”

“Oh, well that’s- A CRUSH?!” Kyle shouted. He hiccuped up another butterfly and scowled.

“A crush on who?” Chum Chum asked. There was another awkward pause, and everyone looked at Kyle again.

“I’m sure I have no idea,” Kyle said, trying to avoid looking at them by staring at the floor. “Except... oh, no. I was looking through my valentines earlier, and the last one I remember picking up was Fanboy’s!”

“Oh, did you like it?” Fanboy asked. “I drew a newt on it because of that time we tried to forge-“

“The card isn’t the problem here!” Kyle interrupted him. “Although I admit it was very nice, but the problem is  _ you _ made it!”

Fanboy looked at him blankly. Chum Chum and Oz exchanged looks.

“When Cupid’s arrow hit me, it must have made me... start to like you by accident,” Kyle explained, turning red. “And now I’m all lovesick, and it’s  _ embarrassing _ .”

“Aw, don’t feel bad, Kyle!” Fanboy said, patting him on the back. “If it was a mistake, I’m sure we can fix it!”

“The only one who could fix this is Cupid himself,” Kyle said. “And there’s no way we could get him back here.”

“Unless...” Chum Chum cut in.

“Unless what?” Kyle asked.

“Beats me. I hoped one of us would come up with an idea.”

The four of them sat and thought, with the silence being broken occasionally by Kyle’s hiccups. Then, Oz suddenly hit the counter with his open palm. “I’ve got it!”

“What?”

“Do you two remember issue 67 of Man-Arctica?” he asked Fanboy and Chum Chum. 

“The one where Global Warmer tried to boil the Pacific Ocean with underground volcanoes?” Fanboy said. “Sure, what about it?”

“Remember how Man-Arctica was able to trap Global Warmer with that giant net and his ice breath?”

“Yeah, so... oh. Oh!!” Chum Chum brightened. “It’s so crazy, it might work!”

Fanboy grabbed Kyle by the shoulders. “Do you think you could trick Cupid into coming where we set up a trap?”

“It’s possible,” Kyle said, a little flustered from the sudden contact. “But who do you know that has ice breath?”

• • •

“No.”

“Aw, come on, Berry!” Fanboy said. “It’s for a good cause!”

“The last time you dragged me into one of your crazy schemes, you almost drank all my freezy lifeblood! I barely got out unharmed!” He crossed his arms and turned his back. “My answer’s still no.”

“But it’s not for us!” Fanboy tried to explain. “Kyle here needs your help with, well...”

“With something we’re not at liberty to say,” Kyle finished. Berry raised an eyebrow, taking in the small white flowers that were apparently growing from the young wizard’s head.

“What exactly did you have in mind?” he finally said. “I’m not gonna agree to anything til I know it won’t be a repeat of last time.”

“We gotta capture Cu- somebody,” Fanboy corrected himself after Kyle gave him a panicked look. “We’re gonna lure him into the Frosty Mart, then catch him in the net Oz bought for us!“

“They seriously sell everything here,” Oz commented, holding up the man-sized fishing net and a length of rope.

“Then we gotta make sure he doesn’t escape by freezing him in place,” Chum Chum finished. “And that’s all you’d have to do!”

“Hmmm,” Berry said, tapping his little clawed foot. “Doesn’t sound like too bad of a plan, but to be clear: you aren’t gonna try and make me your personal Frosty Freezy Freeze dispenser again, right?”

“No way!”

“Course not!”

“What does he mean, ‘again’?”

“I’ll tell you later, Kyle,” Fanboy said. “Let’s get to work!!”

The four of them started trying to hang up the net while Berry watched from on top of a shelf. None of them were tall enough to reach the ceiling, so Fanboy and Chum Chum tried to lift up Oz. Predictably, since he was much bigger than the both of them, this didn’t accomplish much.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Kyle grumbled. “Did you forget I can levitate?”

“Hey, that’s right!” Fanboy said. “I bet you could lift Oz way higher than us!”

Kyle shook his head, but couldn’t help but smile a little at what he’d said. “Could you just hand me the rope, please?”

Meanwhile, Lenny was peeking at them over the magazine he was reading, looking rather confused. He didn’t say anything, but he was clearly keeping an eye on them in case they ended up causing some ridiculous problem as usual. Surprisingly, though, they managed to rig the net without any trouble. 

“Now all we need is some bait,” said Fanboy. “And I have the perfect target for Cupid to go after!”

“Who?” Kyle and Chum Chum asked together. Fanboy grinned, then loped over to the Chimp Chomp machine.

“Boog, my good man,” he said sweetly. “Have you got a minute?”

“This better be good, dweeb,” said Boog, not taking his eyes off the screen. “I got chimps to chomp.”

“Not a problem,” Fanboy said. “Uh, any idea when you’ll be taking a break?”

“I’m tryin’ to get to level 20, and Chimp Chomp needs  _ quality time _ to get that far... get my meaning?” Boog held up a fist.

Fanboy gulped. “Y-you’re clear.” He hastily went back over to his friends. 

“Kyle, any chance you could cast a spell on Boog to get him to stand over here for a few minutes?”

Kyle shuddered. “Theoretically, yes, but after the last time you got me involved with a Boog-related plan, I think the risk of getting bopped is worse than, well... having a big, obvious crush for the rest of my life. Though that doesn’t mean I  _ like _ the alternative,” he added.

“Maybe there’s another way,” Chum Chum said. He turned to Oz. “Do you think your mom would let us borrow her forklift again?”

• • •

A few minutes later, both Boog and Chimp Chomp had been placed in position.

“All we have to do is wait,” Fanboy said as he ducked behind a shelf with the rest of his friends.

“I hope you’re right. Come to think of it, why do you think Boog of all people is going to draw Cupid in?” Kyle asked.

“Well, it’s a little complicated, but-“

_ Ding-dong! _ The familiar ring of the Frosty Mart door stopped Fanboy mid-sentence.

“It’s him!” Chum Chum whispered frantically. “Oz, you gotta-“

“On it,” Oz said, rising up to take a quick peek. In an instant, he was crouching down again. “He’s going right for Boog, and he’s too caught up in his game to notice! We have to do something  _ now _ !”

“The rope’s stuck!” Fanboy tugged at it, but it wouldn’t give. “Come on, come on!” He looked over near the door and wished he hadn’t. He could see Cupid’s shadow pulling out his bow, taking an arrow from his quiver...

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned in surprise.

“Kyle?”

“I think I can help.” Kyle’s expression was serious, but he seemed calmer than he’d been before. “If I put my hand on yours, you can use some of my magic to get the rope to work.”

They were both quiet for a second, looking at each other.

“ _Guys!_ ” Oz broke in. “Seriously!!”

“Okay!” Fanboy exclaimed, gripping the rope. “Let’s get him!”

Kyle placed his hand over Fanboy’s, and a soft, staticy-feeling blue light emanated from his palm. It only took a moment for the magic to travel through the rope. The blocked bit came unstuck, and the net fell with a thud. 

There was an unintelligible shout, a “Hey, what the-“ from Boog, and a gust of frosty air. Then, there was a crash from the counter. “Lenny!”

Kyle came out from their hiding spot, and the others followed suit. They were met with quite a scene. A rack of magazines had gotten knocked over, presumably by Lenny, who was sitting on the floor looking dazed. Boog had abandoned Chimp Chomp and was by Lenny’s side. They were both staring at what was frozen in the net. Or, more accurately, who.

A stocky, tan man with black-feathered wings was tangled in the trap, and unable to move due to the ice block around it. There was an arrow identical to the one that had struck Kyle in his hand.

“Dude,” Oz whispered in awe.

Hearing Oz, the man in the net looked his way. He caught sight of Kyle, and his eyes widened, but then he glared at him. Kyle gulped.

“Well, chums, I believe we’ve captured Cupid.”


	3. Chapter 3

“You wanna tell me why I’m frozen up to my neck, little wizard?” Cupid said, still glaring at Kyle and his friends. Kyle hesitantly stepped forward.

“Er... you shot me with one of your arrows earlier this afternoon, and as you can see, I... well, I have a crush,” he explained. He straightened up, trying to look intimidating, though this didn’t work too well considering he was about four and a half feet tall. “And I want- no, I  _demand_ you get rid of it!”

“Hold on, back up,” Cupid said. “So because you have a crush on someone, you decided to set a trap for me in some convenience store? What on earth led to that thought process?”

“Oh, wait!” Fanboy cut in. “I’ll tell him! I’ve always wanted to deliver the... doughnut... democrat...”

“Denouement,” Lenny corrected him as he sat up, holding Boog’s arm for support.

“Right!” He turned to Cupid. “So C-Man, I figured since it’s your job to make people fall in love, you’d want to use your arrow powers on someone who didn’t have a crush, and Boog was right there, waiting to get arrowed!”

Cupid looked confused. “Look, weird kid, I don’t know how you came to that conclusion. Do you mind helping a guy out?”

Fanboy posed dramatically.

“Well, since Lenny obviously has a thing for Boog-“ Lenny opened his mouth to protest, but decided it wasn’t worth it- “I thought that you’d come and try to make him feel the same way about Lenny!”

Everyone looked at the two Frosty Mart workers, who were doing their best to look anywhere but at each other. Kyle didn’t really care about the love lives of two people he barely knew, and so he decided to subtly glare at Cupid instead. This was ruined when he hiccuped up another butterfly, but it did manage to get Cupid to look over. He seemed to remember the conversation that had been paused.

“You’re obviously confused, so as long as I’m frozen here, I’ll try to clear things up for you. If I shoot someone with an arrow, they’ll only develop a love bug if they’ve got feelings for someone already.” He gestured with his chin towards Boog. “You were wrong, but you got lucky enough to actually find someone with a crush.”

“Hey, give it a rest!” Boog spoke up from beside the counter. “Lenny’s been through enough this afternoon!”

“I was talking about you.”

Boog immediately went unusually quiet. Lenny rolled his eyes, but he had a little smile on his face. He took Boog’s hand and stood up, leading him out the back door. Oz and Berry had lost interest in Cupid and were discussing Berry’s ice-breath powers. Meanwhile, Chum Chum had figured something out.

“Wait... so that means Kyle already had a crush on Fanboy?”

Kyle froze. Fanboy’s eyes widened and he looked to Cupid for an answer.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Cupid said.

The truth had come out. Kyle wished more than anything that he knew how to turn invisible, or disappear in front of people. He supposed there was no hiding it now, though.

“Fine, I admit it,” he said. “I’ve... had a crush on you for a while now.” He shook his head, and the little flowers that had grown from it drifted down to the floor. “I’m sorry we had to go through all this nonsense this afternoon.”

“Are you kidding?”

Kyle looked up to see Fanboy grinning at him. He grabbed Kyle’s hand.

“This was the best Valentine’s Day ever, even before I found out you like me back!”

Kyle blinked. “Did you say ‘like me back’?”

“Uh, yeah! I kinda thought that was why you got arrowed in the first place, actually!” He looked a bit bashful. “Since Cupid brings people together and all, and I already liked you, ya know...”

Kyle interrupted him by pulling him into a hug, and received a hug in return.

Chum Chum looked at his friends happily, and gave Cupid a thumbs up. Cupid smiled back, then looked pointedly down at his own frozen body.

“Oh, right!” Chum Chum said. He looked around, then spotted a display of hair dryers. Then he turned back to his friends.

“Hey, guys! We can thaw him a lot faster with all three of us!”

• • •

After Cupid’s ice block had been thoroughly melted, he left the Frosty Mart with a flap of his wings, muttering something about angsty preteen wizards being nothing but trouble. The boys were left holding their hair dryers in slight bewilderment.

“So... what now?” Kyle asked Fanboy.

“Want to go to the Fanlair and read comics?”

He smiled. “I’d love to!”

And so the three of them walked off, with Fanboy and Kyle hand in hand once again.


End file.
